He was initially sentenced to death, alongside Walus, but his sentence was commuted when South Africa abolished the death penalty in 1995.

Image copyrightAPImage caption
Nelson Mandela salutes the coffin of Chris Hani during his public funeral in 1993

The murder was intended to spark riots that escalated racial tensions and harmed reconciliation efforts.

But it backfired as M Mandela appeared presidential while he called for calm, and pressured then-President FW de Klerk to set a date for the historic democratic election in which he was swept to power.

Derby-Lewis was a founder member of the Conservative Party in 1982.

Partly because of his terminal lung cancer, he was granted parole in June 2015 after 22 years in prison, despite fierce objections from the Hani family.

He is survived by his wife Gaye, a fellow Conservative Party politician.